BBC NEWS. Ilmari Niskanen on his first goal, life in football and loving Exeter City.

“I am so dedicated to my football and it is basically 24/7 in my whole life so it doesn’t stop when I go home,”

Exeter City supporters are so fond of their Finnish international, Ilmari Niskanen, that the applause that greeted his first Grecians score was probably a decibel or two louder than usual.

Niskanen, who turned 27 on Sunday, finally scored in his 47th outing for the Grecians. It wasn’t enough to save the Grecians from losing 2-1 at home to Reading, but it has given the former Dundee United player a desire for more.

“I had mixed feelings of course because, after the game, I was just frustrated with the result,” Nisknanen remarked, referring to his first goal. “We had several opportunities in the second half to tie the game or maybe win it, but we were unable to do so.

“On a personal note, it was amazing to finally complete the first goal, which had been a long time coming. It was a unique experience to play in front of the Big Bank, but I was disappointed as I missed several opportunities to score the second goal. I’d say I was a little unfortunate in terms of hitting the post; I did everything correctly, but it’s a close call.

“I then had another great chance from Kami (Doyle’s) cross but I couldn’t quite get it into the net, so it was mixed feelings, but I was happy to get my first goal out of the way.”

It was one of those evenings for City when all of their opportunities appeared to go to Niskanen, who might easily have had a hat-trick. Nonetheless, he was a constant threat all night, putting on possibly his greatest performance yet in a red and white jersey.

Niskanen, on the other hand, is working hard to develop himself in the hopes of scoring more goals, but he is aiming to grow beyond the training pitch.

“I am so dedicated to my football and it is basically 24/7 in my whole life so it doesn’t stop when I go home,” added the player. “Then I start working on my recuperation, my mental side – I work with a sports psychologist and study that – so it’s not only about the job here (at the training field).

“Of course, the work in here is massive, and we have a great staff and great players helping me in training and stuff – and we do a lot of extra stuff after training to work on things like my delivery, getting into the scoring zone, and finishing those chances, so it is a combination of many things, and I am really glad it has paid off.

“But I will not be satisfied with only one goal and I really hope this will be the start of the really good goalscoring form for the team and for me personally.”

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